VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan received her opening Olympic boxing bout on Friday, beating Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan 5:0 within the ladies’s 57-kilogram division.
Lin and fellow ladies’s boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria have been disqualified from the world championships held final 12 months by the Worldwide Boxing Affiliation for supposedly failing gender eligibility assessments, and their presence on the Paris Olympics has develop into a divisive worldwide concern.
Lin entered the ring on the North Paris Enviornment to a refrain of cheers from the French crowd. Her headgear grew to become dislodged within the first minute throughout a clinch, however she received the primary spherical on 4 of 5 scorecards.
Lin is well-known in worldwide competitions for being taller and extra slender than most of her fellow opponents at 57 kilos whereas utilizing her quickness and superior attain to land vital punches. The 2-time Olympian received the ultimate two rounds 5:0 on all 5 playing cards in opposition to Turdibekova.
Learn the newest on the boxing match between Imane Khelif and Angela Carini
- Why are folks speaking about it? Carini stated the transfer wasn’t pre-meditated, however it has reopened debate about gender eligibility assessments as a result of Khelif was disqualified from final 12 months’s world championships after failing an unspecified check.
Lin bowed to the group earlier than leaving the ring. On her stroll again to the dressing room, she stopped and waved at her cheering fan part, touching her hand to her coronary heart, and later hugged a few of her supporters.
Lin superior to face Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria within the quarterfinals on Sunday, with the winner clinching her first Olympic medal.
Staneva is a 34-year-old newbie boxing veteran who misplaced an in depth battle to Lin within the semifinals of the 2023 world championships in India. The victory was modified to a no-contest by the IBA, which claimed Lin had failed an unspecified gender check.
The IBA, which has been banned from Olympic participation since 2019 following years of criticism from the IOC, additionally disqualified Khelif from final 12 months’s world championships for what it stated have been elevated ranges of testosterone. The IBA has declined to reveal any details about its assessments, calling the knowledge confidential.
Lin didn’t communicate to the media after beating Turdibekova. Taiwan coach Tseng Tzu-chiang briefly described the victory, saying Lin overcame nerves attributable to stress within the first spherical.
“That is how the game is,” Tseng stated. “We respect the ruling, and all the principles.”
Turdibekova cried as she walked to the dressing room, not stopping to talk to reporters.
Lin is the highest seed within the ladies’s 57-kilogram class in Paris, though Olympic seeding is often unindicative of a boxer’s medal probabilities. She received world championships in 2018 and 2022, however the IBA abruptly disqualified her throughout final 12 months’s competitors earlier than the ultimate.
Tsai Ing-wen, the previous president of Taiwan, posted her assist of Lin on social media after Lin’s first win in Paris.
“Once I met boxer Lin Yu-ting, I noticed an athlete who’s fearless within the face of challenges, whether or not they come from inside or outdoors the ring,” Tsai wrote. “Immediately, when she represents Taiwan on the Olympic stage, we will likely be behind her & all of the Taiwanese Olympians making us proud.”
Each Lin’s and Khelif’s passports say they’re feminine, they usually don’t have any eligibility points with the Worldwide Olympic Committee, which runs the Olympic boxing match within the everlasting absence of the banished IBA. Khelif is also a two-time Olympian.
Lin has competed in elite-level newbie boxing for 10 years, and Khelif is a six-year veteran. Neither had been sanctioned earlier than final 12 months’s worlds.
The IOC repeatedly has condemned the rising criticism of Lin and Khelif, who received her personal first bout Thursday when opponent Angela Carini of Italy stop after 46 seconds, citing ache in her nostril following a couple of exchanges of punches.
Carini later instructed Gazzetta dello Sport that she wished to apologize to Khelif for the best way she dealt with the ending of their bout. Carini additionally stated she didn’t imply to keep away from shaking Khelif’s hand.
In a prolonged assertion issued Thursday, the IOC stated its eligibility guidelines have been in place all through the Olympic qualifying course of, and it identified that Lin and Khelif competed for a few years in IBA-sanctioned occasions. The IOC referred to as their disqualifications final 12 months “a sudden and arbitrary determination by the IBA.”
“The present aggression in opposition to these athletes relies solely on this arbitrary determination, which was taken with none correct process — particularly contemplating that these athletes had been competing in top-level competitors for a few years. Such an strategy is opposite to good governance. Eligibility guidelines shouldn’t be modified throughout ongoing competitors, and any rule change should comply with applicable processes and ought to be based mostly on scientific proof.”
The IBA has been out of the Olympic motion since 2019 after years of considerations with its governance, monetary transparency and administration of competitions.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games